1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to holders for serving dishes. More specifically, the present invention relates to insulated fabric serving dish holders.
2. Prior Art
Handling hot bowls and serving dishes is often a mealtime problem. The most common approach to this problem is to use pot holders to move the hot dishes from the cooking area to the dining table, and again to pass the bowls and dishes from one diner to the next. This approach does keep the diners from burning their fingers, but it does not protect the dining table from hot serving dishes, and forces the diners to keep track of the various pot holders with the actual serving dishes.
Casserole dishes, pans, pots and bowls can be converted into serving dishes through the use of this holder, reducing the clutter and cleanup of separate cooking and serving dishes.
Serving holders are well known in the art, however, serving holders disclosed in the prior art do not address all the needs that are addressed by this invention. This invention is insulating, decorative, washable, easy to use and adjustable to fit various geometric shaped and sized serving dishes which are similar in circumference.
Some examples of the prior art serving holders are set forth in the patents described below.
The Hibbert U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,312 shows a fabric dish and pan holder which has an elastic around the top perimeter to snugly fit the serving dish, but does not address the difficulty of inserting the hot dish into the holder. The difficulty arises in attempting to maneuver the hot serving dish into the holder that has a tight fitting, elasticized opening. This prior art also has fabric handles crisscrossed across the opening. After inserting the serving dish into the holder, the fabric handles would fall into the food, making a mess of the food, and also making the handles inoperative without getting food on the diner's hands.
The LaBarba U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,459 also shows an insulated warmer and serving receptacle which does not have the problems described above, but does not fit snugly around the serving dish. With this art, it is possible that the serving dish might easily slip out of the holder, causing food to spill and burns to occur.
The Harnden U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,290 shows a serving vessel that is made of plastic, glass, and ceramic, not fabric. Thus, it is not foldable, or decorative in the sense of a fabric holder that can be made of the same or coordinating cloth as the tablecloth and napkins.
The Spoeth U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,360, as in the above mentioned Harnden patent, is not made of fabric.
Neither the Kuhn U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,609 or the Taft U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,438 are made of fabric. There are other prior art that show insulated containers.
The Strickland U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,279 shows an insulated container cover with no bottom, more applicable to cold bottles than warm serving dishes.
The Hobson U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,597 also shows an insulating enclosure with four insulating layers to be used for bottles of liquids, not serving dishes.
The Skamser U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,814 shows an insulated food bag, appropriate for transporting pizzas, not serving dishes.
Whatever the precise merits features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the insulated fabric serving dish holder of the present invention.